Automatic electric cigar lighter



Nov. 11,1924- 1,515,176

S. D. SACKS AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC CIGAR LIGHTER Filed MarCh 24, 1924 '6.5 Z' -7 /U um! Patented Nov. 11, 1924.

SOLOMON D. SACKS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC CIGAR LIGHTER.

Application led March 24, 1924. Serial No. 701,333.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, SOLOMON D. SACK'S, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city l and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Electric Cigar Lighters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in 1 automatic electric cigar lighters, the principal object of which is to provide a structure by means of which the contactwill be automaticalli7 closed in order to complete the circuit through the heating wire when the device is raised to the position of use, and on the other hand, to automatically break the circuit when the device is restored to its normal position of rest, as upon a table, store counter, show case, or

wall or any .flat surface.

It is obvious that the device may be fashioned in any suitable form, but for the purpose of illustration I have shownthe device fashioned into the shape of a candle stick and candle, the heating element being arranged, of course, at the upper end of the candle portion. It is also evident that any suitable source of electricity may be employed to furnish the current for the device; that is, the device may be connected to a wall or lamp socket in the usual way, or suitable batteries may be used where the former is not available or convenient.

The various features of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which the same reference character indlcates the same part in the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the device in its normal position of rest with parts in elevation, showing the circuit broken.

Fig. 1a is a detail showing the structure by means of which the insulated portion of the device is locked into lace.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the insulating portions of the device showing the elements of the circuit, the section being taken on line 2--2 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, the section being taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Figs. 2 and 3, the section being taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 7.

Fig 5 isa view taken on line 5 5 of Flg. FFig. 6 is a view taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 7 is a view taken on line 7 7 of Fig.

Fig. 8 is a view taken on line 8 8 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 9 is a perspective showing the relative position in the insulation of the circuit elements.

In the drawing the part marked A represents the sheet metal base fashioned into the form of a candle stick base and B represents the sheet metal cylinder fashioned into the form of a candle, the lower part of the cylinder B being secured to the upper portion of the base A in any suitable way, the handle C being secured by solder, or otherwise, to the base portion as shown.

It is obvious that these sheet metal portions A, B and C may be polished, silvered or embellished in any suitable and attractive way.

A metal base D is fitted closely within the flanged bottom portion of the part A upon which rests a sheet of insulating ma terial 10, and at the center of the insulating sheet 10 andy plate 11 is a perforation 12 for the4 reception of the lower shank of the insulator pin 14. Fitted within the cylindrical part B are insulating lblocks 16, 18, 20 and 22 which rest one upon the other,

and in which the various metal elements forming the portion of the circuit are mounted and secured, as will be hereinafter described.

The lower insulating block 16 is provided with a cavity 24 within which the in 14 is mounted and reciprocates, the pin being guided by means of a flange v26, the diameter of which is substantially equal to the diameter of the cavity 24, and also by reason of the fact that the lower portion of the pin 14 passes through and reciprocates in a perforation 28 in the bottom of the insulating block. A larger cavity 30 is formed in the upper portion of the block 16, in which is fitted an insulating block 18 which block is provided with a perforation 32 through which reciprocates the upper portion 34 of the pin 14.

A coil spring S is placed between the lower portion of the block v1.8 and the flange upon the other on top of the block 18 in order to sup-port certain elements of the circuit, the block 22 being provided on 1ts upper face with a series of parallel ribs 38 between which lie the strands of the heating element 40 which may be made of any suitable material, preferably nichrome wire.

Above the block 22 and resting upon the upper faces of the flanges 38 is a plate 42, preferably of mica, said plate being provided with a series of perfo-rations 44, the

plate being held in place by being clamped lbetween the block 22 and the inwardly projecting flange 46 at the extremity of the cylinder B.

The wire W leads from any source of su pM ply through the perforation50 in the bot-` tom flanged portion A to the terminals 52 and 54 which are respectively secured to the pins 56 and 58 mounted in the insulating block 16. At the uppe-r portion of the pin 56 is an electrically connected metallic spring finger 60, the said finger being mounted upon a link 62 secured tothe up;

,Y per end of the pin 56.

In the upper portion of the cavity 30 project two pins 64 and 66, the pin 64 being connected at the bottom to a link 68 which supports a metallic spring linger 70, the fingers 60 and 70 being so positioned that they normally tend to Contact one with the other by spring pressure which, as will be hereinafter described, will result in closing the circuit.

Secured to the upper end of the pin 58 is a link 72 to which is also secured the p-in 66, and at the upper ends of the pins 64 and 66 are attached wires 74 and '76 to the ends of which is secured the nichrome wire 40 hereto-fore described. All these metal elements which have been referred to as forming the circuit, are suitably insulated one from the other as will be readily understood by one skilledv in the art from a reading of this description and an inspection of the b drawing.

Referring to Fig. 1a, the insulating block 16 has formed at the lower end, two cavities 73 and 7 5 into which the ends of the sprin fingers 7 7 and 7 9 project to hld or lock the insulating' block 16 in place, the ngers 77 and 79 being secured to the flanged part A in anysuitable way.

The operation of the device is very simple and will be readily understood froni the above detailed description. It is sufiicient, therefore, only to say that when the device 1s in its normal position of rest on the table T, as shown in Fig. 1, the insulating plulr' ger 14 is pressed up by the weight of the device against the coil spring S and the upper end 34 enters between the two spring co-n-v tact fingers 60 and 70 and forces them apart, and consequently the circuit within which the heating element is placed is broken. When the device is lifted to a position of use in order to light a cigar or cigarette, the spring S forces the plunger or pin 14 downward and its upper end is withdrawn from between the spring contact fingers 60 and 7 O, thereby allowing them to come together automatically by virtue of the spring action, thus making an electric circuit which will result in the incandescence of the heating Wire 40.

As changes of construction could be made within the scope of my invention, it is in- Y tended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: v

1. A device of the type described which comprises a resistanceA heating element, a holder stand for said element a Contact connected in series with said heating element, means for separating said contact to break the circuit to said heating element, resilient means normally pressing said separating means out of separating position and permitting said separating mea-ns to move to separating position as said holderstand is set on its base. f

2. A device of the type described which comprises a resistance heating" element, a holder stand for said heating element, a pair of leaf contact lmembers normally pressing together to form an electric contact, an electric circuit including said heating element and said lleaf contact members in series, a plunger-adapted to separate said leaf contacts and a spring normally pressing said plunger ont of separating position, the end of sald plunger in this position projecting below the bottom of the holder stand, the plunger being forced into separating position as said holder stand is placed on its ase.

3. device of the type described which comprises a holder stand having a flat base, a series of insulating blocks 4in said holder g stand, a resistance heating element" in the upper part of said stand, a'pair of separable -leaf contacts in said stand, an electric ci'rcu1t connecting said resistance heating' element andsaid leaf contacts in series, a plunger adaptedto slide between said leaf contacts to break contact, a spring tending to press fsaid; plunger-out of said ContactA breaklng posltlon, the lower end of the plunger projecting below the bottom of said holderstand when out of separating posiissi v said inner block of insulation having an v `comprises a holder stand, an insulating structure in said stand, a resistance heating element in the upper part of said stand, said insulating structure havingr a chamber in its interior and an opening leading to said chamber from the bottom of said insulating structure, a pair of leaf contacts in said chamber above said opening, electric connections in said insulating structure connecting said contacts. and said heating elements in series, a plunger in said opening of such a length that when entirely within said holder stand it projects between and separates said leaf contacts, and a spring pressing said plunger out of separating po-" sition when the end of the plunger is permitted to project through the base of the v holder stand.

5. A device of the type described which comprises a holder standhaving a flat ,base and an opening therein, a block of insulating material in said stand having its upper portion hollowed out and a passage extending downwardly therethrough in alignment with the opening in said base, a block of insulating material in the hollowed portion of said first mentioned block of insulation,

opening in alignment with the passage in said enclosing block, a pair of leaf contacts mounted on said inner block and contact above the opening in said block, a covering block of insulation on said enclosing block 'of insulation, a resistance heating element mounted above said closing insulating block, means connecting said leaf contacts and heating element in series and adapted to be connected in an electricy circuit, a plunger ofV insulating material slidabl .mounted in the passage in said lower bloc of insulating material and having a blade Yadapted to project between and separate said leaf contacts, and a spring in the passage of said lower insulating block tending to press said plunger to project through the opening in said base and permit said leaf contacts to contact.

6. A device of the type described which comprises a holder stand havin a widened base and an upwardly` projecting tubular portion, a block of insulating material in said tubular portion, said block litting into said tubular portion and having a pair of notches in the lower portion of its side Walls in spaced relation, and spring elements mounted on the inner surface of said sta-nd to press into said notches and hold said block of insulating material in position in said stand.

SOLOMON D. SACKS. 

